Pastel Portrait - Collage

For this unusual portrait project, I was hired by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority to paint a pastel portrait and collage of outgoing executive director Claira Monier, to commemorate her 20 years of service to the state. In her roll as executive director Clara was instrumental in helping the authority to provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income people as well as financing for huge multifamily complexes. Thus I included generic properties to symbolize typical projects that she directed, including a modest single family dwelling, a multi-family complex and a mill building detail. To represent her involvement in state politics and her love of New Hampshire, a detail of the State Capital dome in Concord, distant mountain foothills and autumn foliage helps complete this collage.

For this pastel painting I used an almost unlimited palette, including cool and warm facial tones, autumn shades of red, orange and gold, and cool shades of green, blue gray and a hint of purple. After learning from Claira's secretary that her favorite colors are red, white and blue, I thought it fitting to paint the scarf in such patriotic hues, instead of red, white and brown shades of her actual scarf!

Sketch for Pastel Painting of Yorkshire Terrier

Yorkshire Terrier sitting on antique chair.
Charcoal sketch underdrawing. 11"x14"

Initially I did a few thumbnail sketches of this dog in various settings, including a flower garden, before choosing this ornate antique chair as the perfect backdrop.

At barely 9 inches tall and weighing about 5 pounds, this toy dog seems oblivious to her small size. Judging by her silky coat and well kept appearance, it is easy to imagine that she is one pampered dog! Do I detect a trace of mischief behind that sweet face?

Working on a mid-toned sanded pastel paper, I used vine charcoal to sketch the basic proportions and establish the dark values. I blocked in the background using deep red, hard pastel to help define the outline of the chair. And I lightly roughed in some of the floral pattern of the chair upholstery using a soft red pastel pencil. Next I plan to spray the sketch with workable fixative, before proceeding to the painting stage. When painting in pastel I generally do not spray successive layers, as fixative tends to deaden the colors.

At any given time I may have several pastel or oil paintings in progress, as well as preparatory sketches and commissioned portraits of dogs, horses, cats and people. It's always fun, and interesting!

Go Fetch

Golden Retrievers swimming, & doing what they do best!
Pastel, 8"x10"
$250, unframed (free shipping in US)

I stopped by a coastal marsh to take some photos of water lilies, when I was treated to the playful antics of four Golden Retrievers instead. I just love how Goldens live their lives with wild abandon. If I wasn't smiling when I got there, I sure was when I left! From 60 to 80 feet away I was able to snap several great shots with the help of a telephoto lens.

I chose to do a small pastel of two of the dogs. Here I used a blue & orange palette with green and dark red accents. I wanted to capture the determination in their eyes.

If you would like to purchase this painting please email dale@dalebegley.com.

Copyright by Dale Tremblay Begley

Mystery Portrait Sketch

This is a charcoal sketch for a commissioned pastel portrait of two celebrities (No, I cannot tell you who they are -yet). The portrait is a 'surprise' gift for the pretty lady, hence the faces have been obscured. Unlike my normal process, here I am using a client supplied photograph as the main reference source for this portrait. Normally however I work from a half dozen of my own reference photos taken in natural light, and sometimes live sketches (when possible). I really enjoy the creative process of taking photos, and observing the subject first hand, as it gives me greater insight into their personality, and allows me an opportunity to observe nuances that photographs often lack. Even so, this will be a fun portrait.

As always, I begin each portrait with a value study, either in charcoal, or whatever medium I am working in. The study functions as the under-drawing for the painting, allowing me to develop the basic layout, establish the dark values, and check the drawing for accuracy. This particular reference photo is a striking image, but it was printed using sepia tones, thus the colors are not true. So in order to gather enough information to render their skin tones accurately, I also needed to acquire a dozen or so small snapshots of each of the subjects. Certain values and subtle facial details are blown away in this photo, as in common practice in fashion photography, so I will need to pull certain details from the snapshots. Check back in mid November if you'd like to see the final portrait!

A Warm Welcome

Corgi at the Front Door
Pastel,
8"x10"
$240, unframed (free shipping in US)

I couldn't resist photographing this happy soul while sight seeing in Rockport Massachusetts one warm September day. Back in the studio I played around with a few sketches as I considered various themes and settings. Ultimately I chose to paint the dog by the entrance to a quaint Rockport shop, as if to welcome the passers by.

This blue/orange color scheme, complete with peach posies and blue door complimented the dog's coloring, and seemed to me a fitting backdrop for such a happy critter! Warm orange and peach tones dominate. There are also hints of green and red.

If you would like to purchase this painting please email dale@dalebegley.com.

Copyright by Dale Tremblay Begley

Sketch for Horse Portrait

Today's post is a preliminary charcoal sketch for a portrait commission of Reddi, a 28 year old, bay quarter horse gelding. As you might guess by his soft eyes he has a very gentle demeanor. Years ago this boy was rescued from a bad situation by his present owner. Happily he has been well loved and cared for ever since. Reddi struck me as sweet and proud horse.

This 16" x 20" sketch on Art Spectrum Colourfix coated pastel paper will serve as the under drawing for the final pastel portrait. Typically I like to work on mid toned, or dark toned, sanded paper when painting in pastel (never white paper), as is the case here. When working on a dark surface such as this, I begin by building up to the dark values early on and then proceed to the light values.

sketch copyright Dale Tremblay Begley